


Magicka Academy

by Nikki_Ann



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/F, High School, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27039784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikki_Ann/pseuds/Nikki_Ann
Summary: By the age of 10, most children find out what type of magick they possess, others don't have any. Mark wished for years to be able to wield magick. He wanted to be just like his older brother, who had housed and taken care of him since the age of 9. For a long time after the age of 10, Mark still hoped for magick to come to him, but it never did. Until, finally one day, it did. During the summer, a year after he was supposed to go to a magickal high school, he made a paper bird fly. Two weeks later, he was registered for the biggest magickal school in the country, and quite possibly, the world: Magicka Academy. People came from all over to attend and now, just like his brother had done before him, Mark was going to attend as well.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Kudos: 4





	Magicka Academy

The clock read 7:30 am as light shone in from the bedroom window. As the door began to open, artificial light poured in before a figure stood in the doorway. 

“Mark!” The figure called out before turning the light on. “Mark! Wake up! You don’t wanna be late for your first day at Magicka Academy!”

Mark groaned as he slowly stirred awake. “My first day?” He rolled over and huffed in a sleepy daze. There was a moment of silence as the realization slowly hit Mark. “It’s my first day!” He shouted while jumping out of bed. “Johnny! It’s my first day of magick school!”

Johnny laughed as he watched the boy hurry to ready himself for school before making his way downstairs to prepare breakfast. He made Mark his favorite quick breakfast, cinnamon and sugar toast, two pieces folded in half, and wrapped them in a paper towel for him. Just as the boy made his way down, Johnny finished pouring him a cup of orange juice for the road.

“Oh, by the way,” Johnny began. “Taeyong’s brother is starting today too.”

“Jisung?” Mark questioned as he began to situate his backpack. 

The older male nodded. “Yup. Taeyong told me he skipped two grades. So you have someone you can chat with in class.”

“What about Doyoung’s siblings?” Mark asked. 

Johnny thought for a moment before nodding. “Oh yeah! Jeno and his boyfriend are freshmen this year too.”

Mark nodded and grabbed the breakfast his brother had made after giving him a quick hug. “Thanks, Johnny!” He exclaimed before hurrying out the door and to school. 

~

As two boys lay shirtless in each other’s arms, their door creaked open to reveal an older male with fiery red hair. He smiled at them as he approached their bedside to gently shake them awake. 

“Jeno, Jaemin. It’s time to wake up,” he cooed. 

While neither of them budged, another male entered. He was slightly taller than the first with jet black hair and was wielding an air horn. 

“Cover your ears, Taeyong,” he said. “You know gentle doesn’t wake them.” 

Just as Taeyong did what he was told, the other male blew the horn, making Jeno and Jaemin jolt awake. 

Jaemin sat upright and stretched with a sigh. He rubbed his face vigorously before staring at the other males with a scowl of displeasure. 

“Damn it, Doyoung,” Jeno muttered as he sat up as well. “I hate you.” A pout sat on his face as he gathered his bearings enough to throw a pillow at said person. 

Doyoung laughed and caught it. “Oh hush. You need to get ready for school,” he remarked after throwing the pillow back. “Breakfast is about done. So hurry up.”

After the older two left, Jaemin and Jeno began to ready themselves for school. As Jeno started to button up his uniform shirt, Jaemin lifted the other boy’s chin and planted a kiss. 

Jeno stopped mid-button to match the kiss. He always loved his morning kisses. Then again, it didn’t really matter what time of day it was, he just loved to kiss Jaemin. 

Once Jaemin pulled away with a flirtatious smirk on his face, Jeno blushed and fidgeted with his buttons in an attempt to finish getting dressed. 

Seeing his struggle, Jaemin smiled and buttoned up Jeno's shirt for him. Before Jeno had the chance to take back over, Jaemin grabbed the tie and did that for him as well. He smiled as he absentmindedly stared at Jeno before finishing getting dressed himself. 

Afterward, both boys made their way to the dining room for breakfast. As he passed by a younger blonde boy, Jaemin ruffled his hair and smiled at him. 

“Good morning, Jisungie,” Jaemin cooed. 

The said boy chuckled and nodded. “Morning Jaemin.”

“Morning, shithead,” Jeno remarked as he flicked a girl on the forehead. 

She scoffed and punched Jeno‘s arm. “Good morning to you, assface,” she retorted. “Did you make sure to wash off that sex smell before you subject everyone to that stench?”

“Jina!” Taeyong scolded. 

“What? I’m just making sure he showered after everyone heard his late night endeavors with Jaemin,” Jina countered innocently. 

“You’re a liar and a brat,” Jeno said. 

“And you’re gay,” Jina stuck her tongue out at him as she received slightly confused and insulted stares. 

“You’re just jealous ‘cause everyone but you has a boyfriend,” Jeno remarked. 

“Ew. Gross. First of all, Jisung doesn’t,” Jina replied. 

Upon hearing that, Jisung brought a hand to his chest and mouthed “ow” to feign hurt. It was true, but that didn’t need to be reminded. Afterward, he chuckled quietly to himself. 

“Second of all,” Jina continued, “jokes on you, I’m a lesbian. I don’t need a boyfriend, I’m boyfriend material!” She raised her arms as if in victory. 

Jeno laughed in surprise and amusement. That was one way to come out. 

Doyoung let a chuckle escape as he shook his head. This was normal to him, not so much to Taeyong though, even though they have all lived together for almost four years now. 

When Taeyong and Jisung first moved in, they witnessed a different kind of sibling love that they did not possess. Aside from the occasional snuggle and hug, it was mostly teasing and banter back and forth. The different one was Jaemin though. He had lived with them for as long as Taeyong could remember and was very loving all the time. He took care of Jina constantly before Jisung moved in. Once he did, Jaemin took care of them both. He never hesitated to tell someone he loved them or to show his affection. 

Taeyong wondered if Jaemin was that way because he lost his parents at such a young age. He had heard Jaemin tell the story many times before, always while wearing a sad smile. How he had gone to school in second grade and came home to his house on fire. He remembered the look on his face when Jaemin had found out that he had fire magick in 5th grade. He was horrified, and rightly so Taeyong had thought. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a kiss on the cheek from Jaemin as he bounded out of the house, Jeno and Jisung right behind him. They were off to school. Not two seconds later, Jina hurried after them, a mouth full of food and waving at them to slow down. He chuckled to himself. This was his family and he loved it. He wouldn’t have them any other way. 

“You guys are so mean!” Jina exclaimed after swallowing her food. “You couldn’t have waited for me?” 

Jeno shrugged. “You snooze, you lose.”

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. “I hate you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jeno waved his hand in dismissal and chuckled. “You’re tolerable.”

“Good to know.” She rolled her eyes.

Jaemin smiled and let out a chuckle. “Okay. Do you know where you’re going, Jina?” he asked.

Jina nodded and smiled at him. “Of course. It’s not too much different from last year. I’m just one year closer to the real deal! Magicka Academy!” She giggled and spun in a circle. “Do you think I’ll actually do well? Like, is my magick good enough? All I have is fire magick.”

“Don’t forget about your silencer,” Jeno reminded her. “It may not seem like much, but it’s still important.” He smiled at her and patted her head. “And yes, I think you’re good enough for the academy.”

The girl squealed in excitement and giggled. “Thanks. I just gotta get through this year,” Jina said with a smile on her face. “Let’s go!” She exclaimed as she began to take off in the direction of their school. 

“Hey!” Jeno called after before running after her. He chucked as the other two caught up and ran next to him. Everyone was excited for the first day of school. 

~

As Renjun sat outside of the dean’s office, waiting to be seen, he watched out the window as students hurried and moseyed their way inside. No one really stood out until a limo pulled up into the drop off lane. He peered closer to see who exited it as an obviously bleached, blonde-haired boy hopped out. 

The boy slung his backpack over his shoulder and waved frantically at the driver. He laughed so loud, Renjun could hear it from through the 4th floor window. He wondered who this kid was and why he had a limo. And why he was so loud too. 

Just as the blonde kid’s limo drove off, a very sparkly and expensive looking car took its place. Renjun didn’t know cars very well, so he guessed it was a Mercedes Benz or a Cadillac. Those were expensive, weren’t they? It was bright pink and a convertible with the top already down, so Renjun could see the boy yank his backpack out of the backseat and make a fuss as he left the car. 

The blonde boy just stood there and watched this happen before bounding into the school. The fussy male ran his hand through his light brown hair as he slammed the car door. The woman that drove him shouted something at him before speeding off, leaving the boy to kick at the ground before heading inside. 

Renjun was not quite sure what he just witnessed and sat there in confusion. As he thought, he spaced out and ended up accidentally staring a two very gorgeous boys at the other end of the hallway. He shook his head and looked away, too embarrassed with himself to live. It was his first day and he was already being weird. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about those boys. One with bright pink hair and the other with jet black. Both of them looked like they worked out too. 

Before his mind could wander any further, the bell rang and those boys took off. A minute later, he was called into the Dean’s office. 

~

A few minutes earlier, Mark had arrived at the academy and was completely awestruck. It was huge! As he made his way inside, he tried to find out where his home room was at the same time he texted Jeno and ended up getting lost. He sighed and leaned against the wall. Why did he always do this to himself? As he searched for a school map and felt that all hope was lost, another student saw him struggling and came over. 

“Hey!” The boy said. “You alright? You look like you lost something.”

“I’m lost,” Mark replied. 

The boy was taller than Mark and very handsome. His eyes were big, as well as his hands, and face. Quite possibly everything was big about him, Mark thought. Upon hearing Mark’s reply, the boy became visibly confused. 

“But you’re right here. How did you lose yourself?” He asked. 

Completely thrown for a loop, Mark scoffed in disbelief. “What?”

“What?” The taller boy repeated. At that moment, realization seemed to hit him. “Oh! You’re lost! Where’s your classroom?” He laughed at himself and tried his best to help.

Mark showed him his schedule and looked around. “This is my first year, so I’m a bit turned around.”

“Freshman boy!” He exclaimed with a laugh. “I’m so sorry. My name is Lucas. I’m a sophomore. I had the same home room last year.” Lucas laughed again. “I’ll show you the way. What’s your name?”

“Mark,” he answered. 

“Mark!” Lucas repeated loudly. “Cool! What kind of magick do you use? Are you really a freshman?”

Mark nodded. “Yeah. But I’m ‘99 born, so I should be a sophomore too.” He looked up at Lucas. “As for my magick, I don’t really know a lot about it. I think it’s a type of animation magick?” Shrugging, he followed Lucas down the hall. 

“Animation? Do you make cartoons?” Lucas wondered. 

And at the same time Lucas wondered that, Mark wondered how this boy could be the same age as him and be so dumb. Then again, Mark wondered how dumb a lot of people could be. “No,” he finally spoke. “It means I can make things come alive. I once made an origami bird fly around my room.”

“Holy shit!” Lucas exclaimed. “That’s so cool!! Can you show me?”

“Probably not,” Mark said.

“Oh, why?” Lucas whined. 

“B-because I don’t think I can,” the smaller sputtered. “It’s not easy for me to do.”

“Oh c’mon! Practice makes perfect! Right?” Lucas encouraged. 

Mark scrunched up his face in contemplation and sighed. “I-I don’t know man.”

“Just leave him alone,” a light haired boy said. “If he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to.” He turned to look at the other boys. Mark noticed there was glitter under his left eye. “And from the looks of it, he doesn’t have a lot of magickal abilities anyway.”

“Wha-? Excuse me?” Mark exclaimed. “Who are you? And how would you even know?”

The boy huffed and crossed his arms. “I am Prince Haechan. I know more than you think!”

Mark laughed. “A prince? You’re kidding right?”

Haechan glared. “No. I am not, you magick peasant.”

Lucas shrugged, palms up. “I don’t understand what’s going on but the bell is gonna ring soon. So we should all get to class.”

“Whatever,” the prince huffed and walked off. 

“Uh,” Lucas shook his head. “Well, there’s your home room.” He chuckled. “Good luck, Mark.” 

“Thanks.”

As Mark made his way into his classroom, Lucas waved and ran off. Just before entering, he noticed Jisung in front of him with a very bubbly blonde haired boy. 

“Jisung?” Mark asked. 

Spooked, Jisung whipped around quickly but smiled when he saw where the voice came from. “Mark!” He exclaimed with a laugh. “You here!”

Mark laughed as well and nodded. “Yeah! I know, finally, right?”

“Yeah! I made a friend,” Jisung told him innocently as he gestured to the boy next to him. 

“Hi!” The boy didn’t even wait to be introduced. “My name is Chenle! I’m actually supposed to be in 8th grade, but I skipped a grade. So, here I am!”

Mark nodded. “Wow. Everyone is so much more talented than me,” he laughed and rubbed his chin. “Why does the universe hate me so much?”

Jisung laughed. “Don’t say that! You’re here at least.”

“That’s true. Where are the other two?” Mark asked as they sat down. 

“They should be here soon. I saw them staring at this small, red-haired boy earlier. I think he was waiting at the dean’s office, so he must’ve been new,” Jisung answered. 

“Oh cool,” Mark ruffled the younger boy’s hair and chuckled. 

Just then, Jeno and Jaemin walked through the door and took a seat behind the other three. As they began to talk, Mark leaned back to eavesdrop, as did Jisung and Chenle. 

“Oh my god, Jeno,” Jaemin began. “Did you see how beautiful that guy was?”

Jeno nodded. “Yeah. I wonder where he’s from. And what his name is.”

Mark couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his mouth and turned to them. “Are you guys seriously fawning over the same boy? Aren’t you guys dating??”

Both boys looked at him with a flat expression and nodded. “Yeah and yeah,” Jaemin said. 

“Also, he was really cute,” Jeno supplied. 

Jisung laughed. “That’s it?”

Jaemin nodded. “Yeah. We didn’t get to talk to him.”

Jeno nodded and watched Mark for a moment before he gasped dramatically. “Wait. Why are you here?” He asked, earning a laugh from Jaemin. “I thought you didn’t have any magic.”

“Well,” Mark started with a head wiggle. “I didn’t. But over the summer, I made an origami bird fly. Isn’t that cool?”

“That is cool,” Jaemin smiled. “Is that all you know how to do?”

Slowly, Mark nodded. “Yeah,” he sighed. “It’s not like I was blessed magickally like you guys were.”

“That’s okay!” Chenle butted in. “Everyone has to start somewhere!” He smiled brightly and genuinely.

Mark smiled too as Jeno spoke up. “Who is this? Where did he come from?”

Jisung laughed. “This is Chenle. He’s my new friend.”

“Oh okay,” Jeno nodded. 

Just then, Prince Haechan walked in and sat in front of Mark right as the bell rang. The older male held his breath for a moment before shaking his head and deeming that it didn’t matter. He was just another kid at magick school, just like himself. Titles didn’t matter in the hunting grounds of high school. 

As the teacher walked in, everyone quieted down and Mark took a deep breath. This was actually happening. He was going to learn magick. 

From behind him, Jaemin smiled and massaged his shoulder briefly to comfort him. Everything was going to be okay. 

“Everyone stand up. We’re going to start off with introductions,” the teacher said as she took a step. “Say your name, first and last, your age, and what kind of magick you specialize in. Starting from the front.” She took the ruler from on her desk and pointed at the student in front of her. 

The first student was a mousy girl with her black hair in a messy bun. She adjusted her glasses before speaking. “Um, my name is Sooyoung Lee, I’m 2000 born, and I specialize in animal communication. And uh, kinda recovery? Still working on that one,” she word vomited before sitting back down.

“Her brain is as messy as her bun,” Jeno whispered. 

The other four boys stifled their laughter as the next student began to introduce himself. 

“Hi! My name is Yangyang Liu!” He said with a wave. “I’m 2000 born as well and specialize in plant control. It’s a lot cooler than it sounds. I promise.” Yangyang laughed as he sat down. 

As the other students continued to introduce themselves, Mark started to get increasingly anxious. He didn’t really know what he specialized in. All he knew was that one spell and he wasn’t even for sure if he could do it again, at this rate. What should he say? It was almost his turn. One more person and he had to talk about the magick he didn’t have. Oh boy. 

As the student finished talking and sat down, Mark readied himself. Before he could begin, the classroom door opened and in entered a small red-haired boy. The same red-haired boy that Jeno and Jaemin gawked at earlier. Once they realized that, the couple smacked each other’s thighs in excitement before holding hands to calm down. 

The dean of the school gestured for Renjun to take a seat, waved to the teacher in apology for disrupting class, and left. Once the door was shut, she pointed her ruler at him and spoke. 

“Stand back up. Introduce yourself. Your first and last name, age, what magick you specialize in, and for you, how far away your hometown is from here,” the teacher instructed.

Renjun nodded and stood up. “Okay. My name is Renjun Huang. I’m 14 years old, born in 2000, “he specified. “I specialize in sound magick and dabble in hexes and I came from three towns away, up north.” After looking around, he bowed awkwardly and sat back down. 

Mark heard the Prince scoff and watched him attempt to get the attention on him. “I’ll go next!” He announced, which Mark didn’t mind this time. 

“My name is Prince Haechan Lee, call me ‘Your Highness,’” he said with a smirk and somehow, Mark had a feeling he wasn’t joking. “I’m 2000 born, which, by the way, why do we state our age if we’re all supposed to be ‘00 born? Seems a little redundant to me but whatever.”

“Wow,” Mark mocked. “I didn’t think you knew big words like that.”

Haechan turned to glare at the culprit of that remark and scowled when he saw it was Mark. “How dare you talk to me like that, you commoner.”

Before a fight could occur, the teacher smacked the ruler on the table in front of Haechan. “Finish introducing yourself!”

The prince jumped in shock but nodded. “Okay. I specialize in wind magick,” he concluded as he sat down. 

“Good. Next?”

Mark cleared his throat as Haechan threw his feet up on the table. “My name is Mark Seo, I’m 15 years old, ‘99 born and uh,” before he was able to continue, the teacher interrupted him. 

“Did you say Seo?” She asked. “As in, Johnny Seo?”

He nodded. “Yeah? Why?”

She stared at him for a moment and tilted her head. “Johnny was the pride of our school when he was here. Always worked very hard to prove his magickal capabilities.” The teacher leaned on the desk in front of Mark. “And I expect the same from you. Now, what do you specialize in?”

Mark sighed and muttered under his breath, “of course he had to be the pride of the school.” He shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know what I specialize in. I gained my abilities over the summer.”

“Then why don’t you show us the spell that you used when you discovered your magick?” The lady suggested, but it was more of an order. 

Now, with all eyes on him, Mark most definitely did not want to do that spell. He especially didn’t want to do it with Prince Haechan staring him down. However, he didn’t exactly have a choice. So, he turned to Jisung who was already making a bird for him and sighed. 

When Jisung handed him the piece of origami, he took a deep breath and tried to focus on what he had done that day. Mark didn’t have confidence in himself in that moment but tried anyway. 

“Why don’t you use your wand?” The teacher suggested.

“Because I don’t have one?” Mark answered, confused.

Haechan sighed and tsked. What a disappointment. Mark could hear it now. It’s what he had always heard in hushed voices from others and it was discouraging. His thoughts were brought to a halt when he felt Jisung poke his side. 

“Do you wanna use mine?” He whispered as he pulled his wand out of his sleeve. 

Mark smiled at him but shook his head. “I wouldn’t know how to use it.”

Jisung nodded. “Okay. That’s fair.”

“Uh, can, can I try this later?” Mark asked. “That way we can get through introductions first?”

The teacher nodded and Mark sat down with a sigh of relief. Now he had time to remember how he did it in the first place. 

It was Jisung’s turn to go. “Hello. My name is Jisung Park, I’m 13, born in ‘02 and I specialize in Luck magick.” He smiled, bowed, and sat down quickly. 

Chenle giggled at how adorable Jisung was and began his turn. “Hi! My name is Chenle Zhong! I’m also 13, but born in ‘01 and I specialize in water magick!” He smiled as he gave a small demonstration by making water swirl around his hands before disappearing. Afterward, he sat down. 

At the same table as Jeno and Jaemin, there was a smaller girl at the end with her feet resting on it. When she realized it was her turn, she quickly threw her feet down. “Oh yeah!” She exclaimed as she stumbled to stand up. “My name is Minji Ahn and I was born in ‘01!” She looked around for a moment. “Who else said they were 13? I thought I heard that.”

“You did!” Chenle exclaimed and waved. “Me! Oh! And Jisung!” He pointed at a red-face and embarrassed Jisung and giggled. 

“Sweet!” Minji matched Chenle’s excitement and continued talking. “I specialize in trickery and illusion magick! Yeet!” She laughed and sat down, kicking her feet back up on the table. 

Not too sure what they witnessed, Jeno and Jaemin just sat there in confusion, the same look on their scrunched up faces. Jeno raised an eyebrow and was the first to come to his senses. It was like dealing with Jina all over again. He tapped on Jaemin’s leg to get his attention so that introductions may continue. 

Jaemin gathered his thoughts and bowed. “My name is Jaemin Na. I’m ‘00 born and I specialize in charms and fire magick,” he said with a charismatic smile the whole time. 

If Jeno wasn’t so accustomed to it, he could swear he’d get wooed by that smile every time. He put on a smile of his own and began his introduction. “My name is Jeno Lee. I’m ‘00 born as well and I see people’s auras, can hear their thoughts, and can manipulate emotions.”

“That’s a lot of cool stuff you got there, Jeno,” Mark joked. 

Jeno laughed and rubbed his back before sitting back down. He knew how much Mark wanted to be good with magick and had always wished he’d known how to help him. At least now, Mark had magick to work on. 

As the intros finally came to a close, Mark was filled with panic once again. He still did not know how to animate the origami bird Jisung had made for him and decided to ask the youngest for help. 

“Jisung, do you know what spell I’m talking about for making the bird fly?” He asked. 

Jisung nodded slowly as he thought. “I think so. I can look through my spell book for you?”

“Please do. It’s, like, an animation spell, or something like that,” Mark clarified. 

The younger searched through his book with the help of his wand to find that spell and began to read the page the book stopped on. “Is this it?” He wondered to the oldest. 

Mark glanced at it and nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Okay. I think I got this. It’s just a spell,” he tried to calm his nerves. 

“Just be careful,” Jisung whispered as the teacher made her way over after spelling her name out on the chalkboard. 

“I am Teacher Song, my age is irrelevant, and I specialize in deactivation and redirection magick,” she told the class. “Please be respectful to your other classmates, no matter their magickal power, age, abilities.” Song smiled as she turned her attention to Mark. “Now, Mr. Seo? Shall we try again?”

Mark took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

To help him out a little, Jisung set his spell book down so that Mark could see it and smiled. Mark looked over it once more before trying the spell. To his surprise, and everyone else’s, it worked! The bird started to fly around the room and near the windows. 

“You did it!” Jaemin exclaimed happily. 

“Holy shit, Mark!” Jeno joined in. 

Mark laughed and couldn’t help the smile that formed. He watched it fly around in excitement but was immediately disheartened when it crashed into one of the windows. Upon impact, it exploded, breaking the window and burning part of a desk. 

All the students jumped in shock and scurried to the other end of the classroom. Mark stayed where he was and sighed. Another project gone wrong. When he turned his attention to his classmates, he saw the look of horror on their faces. The look of disappointment and disapproval plastered on their faces was all too familiar to him. He hated it. He hated this moment. Every. Single. Time. It was always the same. 

Bringing him out of his thoughts, Mark felt a tug on his sleeve and a hand on his back. When he brought his attention to those spots, he saw Jisung looking at him to make sure he was alright. The same was true for the hand on his back. It was Jaemin’s, placed on the small of his back in an attempt to comfort him. The three boys he’d known most of his life were there by his side to make sure he was okay. 

“Are you alright?” Mark heard a different voice ask. 

He turned to the source and saw the small red-haired boy, Renjun. Mark nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

Renjun nodded but Jeno spoke up instead. “Not a big deal. It was just a mistake.”

“Right,” Mark sighed but nodded. At least he had them by his side. 

~ 

The rest of the day, all Mark could hear people talk about the explosion. About some kid that busted a window out of his home room class with a stupid mistake. The other students laughed or poked fun at the boy from the story, not knowing they were standing next to him. Mark just shook his head. What was the point of using his newfound magick if he couldn’t do it right? What was the point if all he got in return was shame and disappointment?

Once word got around to who had made a paper bird explode during home room, no one left him alone. Peers teased him in spell class and shunned him during math. At lunch, one student went over and poured milk over his head and down the back of his uniform. 

Mark gasped and clenched his fists, just ready to cry. He had never been so humiliated before, even in regular middle school. Not wasting much time, Mark threw his food and tray away before hurrying to the bathroom to try and clean up. This uniform was expensive and he was not about to let it get ruined. 

Upon entering the bathroom, he grabbed a handful of paper towels to try and pat it dry but began crying instead. Mark rested his head on the edge of the sink and let himself crouch down to preserve his energy. This was the worst day ever. 

Mark heard the sound of a stall unlocking and hurried back to his feet. Out came the little blonde boy that was with Jisung earlier, Chenle, he remembered. He was normally loud but seemed to not know what to do with himself in that moment. 

Chenle stumbled to find the words to say as he stood with his mouth open. Instead of saying anything, he just stepped towards Mark and removed the milk from his clothes. Afterwards, he let it drain into the other sink and bowed to Mark. 

“I’m sorry that happened. If it does again, you can come find me and I’ll remove it again?” Chenle offered. “Since I specialize in water magick, it’s really easy for me to get other liquids out of clothing.” Not knowing what else to say, the boy shrugged, bowed, and hurried out of the bathroom. 

Mark sighed but silently thanked Chenle for getting the milk out. He did not want to have to buy a new uniform. After leaving the bathroom, Mark gathered his things and headed home. He figured everything would be much better at home. It wasn’t like he planned to go back to school tomorrow anyways. The uniform was like a nice keepsake. However, the academy wasn’t worth it to him anymore, and so he left. 

When he arrived home, he threw his backpack on the couch and started for the stairs. Before he could Johnny made his way over. 

“Hey, kiddo,” he said. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Mark turned to his older brother and felt the tears well up. He took a deep breath to prevent them from spilling over before speaking, “I made a bird explode and now people won’t stop bullying me.” Seeing his brother’s concern made his dam collapse as water leaked down his face. “I don’t wanna go back, Johnny,” Mark pleaded as he shook his head. 

Johnny sighed with compassion as he pulled his younger brother into a hug. “Come here. I got you.” He held Mark in his arms and ran his hand through the younger’s hair. “Why don’t you clean up and shower, and then we can just relax tonight,” he suggested and held Mark’s face. “Don’t make up your mind just yet, okay?”

He knew Johnny meant well and nodded. “Okay,” Mark answered. “I’ll be back,” he said as he took off his jacket. “I got milk in my hair anyways.”

“Is that what that was?” Johnny asked. “I was wondering about that.” He smiled and chuckled to keep the mood light.

And it worked. Mark chuckled as he headed up to shower. Johnny always knew the best ways to make him feel better.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought in the comments! Thank you so much for reading! <3


End file.
